1/29/2009

AFP - The weekend storm that left 26 dead across southern Europe caused several hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in damage in France, insurance companies said Monday.

A more exact estimation will be delivered in a few days when the true extent of the destruction has become clear, a spokesman for the FFSA federation of French insurers told reporters.

Thousands of workers beavered on both sides of the French-Spanish border Monday to restore power and reopen roads and rail lines blocked by trees uprooted by the worst storm to hit France and Spain in a decade.